Posted on 06/20/2023 9:13:01 PM PDT by delta7
I hear that the Chinese are going to add the image of Antony Blinken to the dictionary definition of “Kow Tow.” He went to Beijing, hat in hand, and received a less than warm welcome. The term, “frosty” comes to mind. Blinken and his Chinese hosts engaged in a one-sided “frank exchange of views” (i.e., a phrase used by diplomats to describe a tense, angry conversation). The Chinese delivered and Blinken ended up saying what the Chinese demanded he say — “the U.S. does not support Taiwan Independence.”
I find it a bit hilarious. Blinken simply restated the One China Policy negotiated and implemented by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger 51 years ago. What Blinken said has been the cornerstone of U.S. policy towards China for decades. But that is not how it was received back home in America.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised eyebrows Monday, telling reporters the US “does not support Taiwan independence” after meeting in Beijing with officials including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Blinken’s statement ruffled the feathers of many Republicans in Congress, who viewed the statement – and the secretary’s inability to re-establish military-to-military communications – as an inappropriate kowtow to America’s greatest adversary.
“Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwan’s independence,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Twitter. “Why won’t this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?” So here is the situation — Blinken reaffirms the longstanding U.S. policy towards China and is attacked as a spineless shill caving to unreasonable demands by the Government of China. I feel some sympathy for Blinken (not much, just a tad), but it is his fault and the fault of the Biden Administration that Antony had to do a diplomatic back flip to try to reverse more than a year of comments referring to China as an “enemy” and Biden’s public promise to send U.S. troops to defend Taiwan.
China was firm about what it wanted from the Biden Administration. This is a portion of what the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released in the aftermath of the meeting:
Wang Yi said that Mr. Secretary of State’s visit to Beijing this time comes at a critical juncture in Sino-US relations, and it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. History always moves forward, and China-US relations will eventually move forward. There is no way out to turn back the wheel of history, and it is even less advisable to start over. With an attitude of being responsible to the people, history, and the world, we must reverse the downward spiral of Sino-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along in the new era.
Wang Yi emphasized that the trough in Sino-US relations is rooted in the US’s erroneous perception of China, which leads to wrong policies towards China. Sino-US relations have experienced ups and downs, and it is necessary for the US to reflect deeply and work with China to jointly manage differences and avoid strategic surprises. In order for Sino-US relations to stop falling and stabilize, the top priority is to truly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state. For China-U.S. relations to be stable and long-term, the most important thing is to follow the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping. . . .
Wang Yi asked the US side to stop hyping up the “China threat theory”, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, stop suppressing China’s technological development, and refrain from wantonly interfering in China’s internal affairs. Wang Yi focused on analyzing the essence of the Taiwan issue, emphasizing that safeguarding national unity will always be the core of China’s core interests, it is the fate of all Chinese people, and it is the unswerving historical mission of the Communist Party of China. On this issue, China has no room for compromise. The US side must truly adhere to the one-China principle set out in the three Sino-US joint communiqués, respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose “Taiwan independence”. No warm fuzzies from Beijing in this message. It is a very typical Chinese ultimatum — I say typical because it is presented very calmly, no hyperbole but very direct. China left Blinken with two choices — reaffirm the One China Policy or prepare for a rupture in relations.
The Chinese are in no rush to let the Biden Administration off the hook. Their refusal to re-establish military – to – military communications signaled China’s intention to wait and see if Blinken and the rest of the Biden national security team cool their rhetoric and embrace the One China Policy.
The big problem facing Biden and his team of buffoons is that they helped poison the America political waters with toxic rhetoric portraying China as a primary enemy of the U.S. during the last two years and must now find an anti-dote to that venom. I do not think it is possible for them to extricate themselves from this corner. Biden and Blinken painted themselves into an inescapable place and anything they do to reverse course will be attacked as weakness and cowardice by many American politicians and citizens.
Things are likely to heat up in the coming weeks and Biden will face growing pressure to throw Blinken under the bus. The Wall Street journal, citing current and former U.S. officials, reports:
China and Cuba are in talks to set up a joint military training center on the island, which means the Chinese military could be on America’s doorstep. U.S. alleged outrage over this move by China conveniently ignores the fact that the U.S. provoked this by sending U.S. military trainers to Taiwan:
The US government has sent around 200 soldiers to Taiwan to provide military training amid increasing tensions with China, according to a report by Taiwan News. . . . A majority of the troops sent to Taipei are from the US Army and currently stationed at new training centers and reserve brigades of the Taiwanese Armed Forces. Beijing is sending Washington a blunt message — anything you can do we can do better. When it comes to “tit-for-tat” China knows how to play hardball.
The choice America faces is stark and simple — accept the One China Policy or prepare for a war with China. There is no middle ground. I never thought I would find myself longing to have someone like Richard Nixon back in charge. Despite his tarnished Presidency, he intelligently understood that going to war with China is a recipe for national disaster.
I think you can watch Red Dawn free on Roku now.
Just saying.
There’s a huge dichotomy.
The US is trying to be nice with the PRC and restore things back to normal as quickly as possible, that means publicly acknowledging Taiwan is theirs.
Meanwhile we babble about Ukrainian “sovereignty” and their right to be in NATO, and are fueling an outright war.
It’s time for the political spin doctors to tell us how Ukraine an Taiwan are entirely different and how we’re not inconsistent.
Expect the media to feed us why we are right in Ukraine where we support national sovereignty, but also Taiwan where we don’t support national sovereignty. They need to do that soon because the contradiction is obvious.
Well played, ma’am.
We as a country, have been selling out to China as quick as possible, for three decades at least.
Both parties.
Everyone. As rapidly as possible.
Just now, we are starting to get just a first clue?
A ‘one-sided’ frank exchange of views?
Lemme guess: who was the pitcher, and who was the catcher?
“I find it a bit hilarious. Blinken simply restated the One China Policy negotiated and implemented by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger 51 years ago. What Blinken said has been the cornerstone of U.S. policy towards China for decades. But that is not how it was received back home in America.”
Not true.
It had nothing to do with Taiwan independence or support or opposition to it.
It was about Chiang vs Mao and their respective groups as government of China. Not the status of a Japanese territory after WWII.
Expect the media to feed us why we are right in Ukraine where we support national sovereignty, but also Taiwan where we don’t support national sovereignty. They need to do that soon because the contradiction is obvious.
——-
Another reason - Taiwan elections are coming up. The leading contender ( favored) does not beat the war drums like the US, but instead supports the status quo- massive trade to continue, NO WAR, but continue peaceful lives.
More than half of all Taiwan businesses do the majority of their trade with China. They know beyond any doubt, conflict with China sinks the island.
This is not my America. I do not matter. I do not care if China takes over.
China has so many moles embedded in the Taiwan government and industries, they really don’t have to take over.
Just wait until China established a naval base in Cuba. The entire hemisphere including the Panamá canal will be in peril.
I spent a lot of time in Taiwan some years ago.
I felt safe day or night, except sometimes when riding in a car. Detroit-level wild drivers.
The people are super nice. And the food...
It was claimed that if you were out late in the evening that one of every three people you saw walking was a police informant.
Not police or guards but citizens that keep note of anything out of the ordinary.
Supposedly they simply stroll their neighborhood with their eyes open and a notepad.
Also an undercurrent of different ‘groups’ and suspicion.
Spies yes, but guessing that many are known.
However, just food for thought (reciprocal argument):
No differently than we did with Ukraine, where we weaved ourselves into their political system and formed strong economic ties, China has been for years with Taiwan.
In Ukraine we did this when we came in with deep pockets (foreign aid) and offering “help” which ALWAYS has strings attached (reference leaked 17 audio tapes of the Biden phone calls). We had the CIA, State Department, military assistance, our media, foreign aid, and NGO’s working on them and it is well known that we essentially even decided who becomes a major player in Ukrainian politics: https://www.france24.com/en/20140207-ukraine-usa-eu-nuland-leaked-audio (it doesn’t get more blatant/obvious than in these tapes). You had George Soros at one point going around bragging about how we basically own them.
***The point being, that what you see as being “Taiwan,” is already heavily influenced by the PRC behind the curtain, if I had to guess.
Likewise, anyone who doesn’t think we own Ukraine, is living in an imaginary world separated from reality: https://thehill.com/policy/international/3790699-zelensky-agrees-to-ukraine-rebuild-investment-with-blackrock-ceo/
We still live in a world where you have major powers or blocks, and those nations which fall under their sphere of influence. PRC wants Taiwan, we want Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela, and Libya (all aligned with Russia historically- all of significant economic value). We’re pretty greedy.
Venezuela: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gideon_(2020) Who do you think finances these “private military companies” through other front companies? We right now, have US Special Forces being held as prisoners in Venezuela (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Operaci%C3%B3n_Gede%C3%B3n_2020_-_SEBIN_capture.png), and most Americans do not even know that we planned, organized, financed, equipped and logistically supported a coup there. Our MSM does not even talk about it, although it’s not a secret.
Libya: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/17/secret-us-mission-in-libya-revealed-after-air-force-posted-pictures And we still have folks there, even though we deny it. Better yet, we started the revolt in Libya, then crippled the Libyan military with an air campaign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya And armed as well as fed some intel to rebel forces...
Syria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_the_Syrian_civil_war Of course we’re there for “democracy, human rights, freedom and LGBTQIA+ rights!” The fact that all of these nations are major oil producers is just a coincidence.
Here’s’ another perspective, one that folks will not want to see (since we obviously are the good guys). Russia is no longer the powerhouse they once were. The Warsaw Pact is gone. The Soviet Union is gone. Without going into the numbers and making this to lengthy, Russia today is the weak prey in the water, and it’s actually us that’s the shark.
With PRC the story is different. They have an economic value to us (major US export market and the base for much US manufacturing), they have influence inside the US may that be politically or through the media. Furthermore, PRC today is a military powerhouse that poses a greater challenge to us. So, our approach with them is entirely different.
No one in Taiwan “beats the war drum”.
“ The US is trying to be nice with the PRC and restore things back to normal as quickly as possible, that means publicly acknowledging Taiwan is theirs.”
What are you talking about.
Your moniker red fits you.
What planet are you living on?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/us/politics/biden-china-g7.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/16/politics/biden-town-hall-february/index.html
One of the first things this administration did: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58690974
Our political ruling class, is literally pursuing a rapid normalization of relations with the PRC.
It is only because it’s a bit of an eye sore, and a few folks in the US are playing opposition politics (rightfully so) is it difficult for this administration and our bureaucracy to go that course any faster than they are.
1.) PRC is where much of the US manufacturing base is located: GM, HP, Cisco, Dell, Amazon, Tesla... It is also a major market, second in volume only to us. The PRC has an economic value to us.
2.) Furthermore, the PRC has been engaging US media for years, in some cases owns some of them, and their state run media is available in the US. With lobbying firms, major campaign and party donations through their US based subsidiaries, the PRC has political influence.
3.) Finally, the PRC is a major military power, one we respect and are not really wanting to get tangled up with.
I’m not telling you that I agree with it. I’m just telling you that is what we’re doing. In politics, it sometimes happens where the political ruling class wants to go a different direction than the folks on the street. That is what you have with the PRC. Most average Americans know to varying degrees how bad the PRC is (there has been enough in our media over the years): forced abortions, organ harvesting without consent, internment camps, Tibet, Taiwan, oppression of religion (both Islam and Christianity), LGBTQIA+ rights, disappearances of political dissidents, one child policy in past, mass use of the death penalty, mass censorship, a single party communist regime, no EPA standards, no safety standards, child labor, forced labor...
However, our political class is influenced by those with the money, and they want things to be back to normal because we build and sell there.
All that “democracy, freedom, human rights, transparency, sovereignty, rule of law” babble is crap used to stir up the masses when convenient but we want nothing of it if it gets in the way of the all mighty dollar. Guess what George H. Bush supported in the same year tanks drove over pro-democracy students on Tienanmen square in 1989? PRC most favored trade status and WTO membership.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/05/24/Bush-extends-favorable-trade-status-for-China/1903643521600/
Guess what Bill Clinton supported? Guess what George W. Bush supported? Guess what Obama supported? Guess what Biden Supports?
OK, let me explain it this way to you. A nation can be led by a despot king, that takes a US resident and journalist, and hacks him up alive (so that he sees his own dismemberment), in a fellow NATO nation, at the direction of the despot, and guess what we will do if he flew here tomorrow? We’d roll out the red carpet: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399 Money talks!
-YOU- might feel a certain way, but our government doesn’t agree as proven by their actions.
What are you talking about?
Word dump nonsense.
Say something clear.
Not double talk.
You support US supporting Chicom dictatorship or not?
No one in Taiwan “beats the war drum”.
———
Exactly, the US (like the Ukrainian debacle) pushes them into war. The US has/ is sending weapons to Taiwan. This is exactly what is happening in Ukraine, pushing War instead of Peace, trade, and negotiations.
The US has much blood on their hands.
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